The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California • 13

Metro Tape played in murder trial B4 Editorial pages B6 B7 ActionAnswers B8 THE FRESNO BEE Wednesday April 13 1983 For sale national forest land? Killer's bid to stay his death Edelbacher's son 4 hears defense of his father in court By GENE ROSE Bee staff writer By JOE ROSATO Bee staff writer federal government purposes according to Forest Service officials McCarthy said the land being considered includes isolated'1' parcels that are hard to-manage or in checkerboard -parcels of public and private ownership and land under special use permit used for aji single purpose and unlikely to be needed in the future The list includes several mountain resorts pack stations and a few homesites It does not contain prime commercial timberland although it includes land with timber Some of the parcels are 1 outside the main forest See Forest Page B2 beyond the 1800 acres proposed for sale last year by officials of the US Department of Agriculture the Forest Service's parent organization Robert McCarthy a spokesman for the Sierra National Forest said the thrust of the latest program is to identify lands that could qualify for disposal Once that is done but before any land could be sold Congress would have to pass legislation to permit the agency to study the areas Only then could the land be listed for sale The thrust of the Asset Management Program is to identify lands inefficient to manage or no longer needed for Nearly 50000 acres of National Forest lands east of Fresno are being considered for possible sale under a Reagan administration program In the 13 million-acre Sierra National Forest stretching from south of Yosemite National Park to west of Kings Canyon 33217 acres are being considered for possible disposal as excess federal land From Hume Lake south on the 12 million-acre Sequoia National Forest another 16000 acres have been identified for possible sale The latest proposal goes well he attempted to influence the jury and save his client from San Quentin's Death Row At one point Edelbacher glanced over his shoulder and smiled at his father when a slide of the two of them was shown Edelbacher's mother Regina told the court her son was the eldest of four children "He was the first born and we loved him dearly" she testified She described him as "just a normal child" and as a "loving brother who also liked having his own way He was always loving and loyal to his family and friends" An independent child Edelbacher See Defense Page B2 book as a jury took evidence that will determine whether death will claim the boy's other parent Edelbacher 27 was found guilty March 31 of the murder of Lela Edelbacher The jury of six men and six women will be asked today to decide between the gas chamber and life in prison without the possibility of parole Lenny a blonde preschooler sat next to Edelbacher's father Alfred Outside the fifth-floor courtroom of Superior Court Judge Hollis Best sat Lela's parents Dorothy and Robert Glim Defense attorney Jim Elia paraded eight witnesses and showed slides of Edelbacher's childhood as The day before a jury will consider if Peter Edelbacher should die in a gas chamber the 'convicted killer was portrayed as a good father a hard worker and a man who did everything he could to save his faltering marriage With his 4-year-old son Lenny sitting in the row behind him Tuesday Edelbacher smiled 1 occasionally and displayed more emotion than he did during the trial 'i in which a jury found that he shot his wife Lenny's mother to "'death on a spring night two years ago Lenny fidgeted with a coloring xi -w i A surprise Ag museum fund drive nears start encore for winter it Ambitious project seeks $3 million By SHIRLEY ARMBRUSTER Bee staff writer An ambitious fund-raising project that promises overseas trips for students who help raise moneyed discount coupons for donors 'bn items such as cameras power tools and car rentals will begin Friday Winter-like weather returned to many sections of Central California gpn Tuesday with snow in the Sierra jand a cold cloud cover over the valley Mi Light frost was expected in some 'areas of the San Joaquin Valley this morning as a cold front continued to hold forth over many areas of the state Fresno's low this morning was expected to be 40 degrees A National Weather Service spokesman said the weather in Fresno should begin warming and Vplearing today Gusty winds up to 0 mpH were expected in the valley nthis afternoon Additional snow flurries were predicted for mountain elevations above 4000 feet The snowline yesterday ranged as low as 2800 feet with Bass Lake and North Fork receiving a cold covering of late spring snows "I At Giant Forest in Sequoia Park light snow fell most the day Tuesday coating the forest and foothills down to about 3000 feet the National Park Service for the California Agncultu Museum reported In Vnoomito Vnllpv cnnur fliirrips Fresno Bee fell intermittently and accumulation was light Tire chains were required 'ion Highway 41 over the Chinquapin grade Grant Grove Kings Canyon See Winter Page B2 Snow flurries touched down to the 3000-foot level Tuesday on Highway 41 north of Oakhurst past Bass Lake turnoff Objections to KSEE sale withdrawn Sierra North plan breach OK'd by Fresno County By TED REED 13ee business writer The statewide fund drive's goais $3 million When that is state will release $6 million it has earmarked to renovate the Qjd Administration Building at Fresno City College into a museum Officials want the Calffprjwa Agricultural Museum whose tyOtto is "The fruits of the past jhe seeds of the future" to showcase the state's 200-year agricultural history Equipment displays and memorabilia will tell the story of the people and events in California agriculture To hand over the neededi(3 million to museum trustees fee professional fund-raisers running the campaign estimate they must raise somewhere near $5 milhon from individuals companies foundations Martin Young executive officer of the fund-raising Private Sectpr Initiatives Inc said the additional money is needed to cover operating costs about 35 percent of the total raised and the firm's profit of 41 percent While the fund-raising campaign is scheduled to continue through 1984 Young said he hopes to rae the needed money by the summer of next year "This trek by heroic volunteers Dr Ephraim Smith and Maypelje Selland in particular has taken 10 years" said Young about the en-again off-again efforts to save the building from demolition and create a museum "We are off and going now and don't want to see the momentum lost" The ag museum drive was the first taken on by Private Sector Initiatives founded by Fresnan Cut Mercer last June The company specializes in drives for non-profit organizations that have cultural significance said Young who will oversee other drives once the museum project is on solid footing The company is also doing a test campaign for the Nekeii Center in See Museum Page 82 By CHARLES MILOS Bee staff writer San Joaquin Communications Corp the station's owner Bartlett also questioned the authority of Fresno Councilman-elect Les Kimber to participate in the opposition to the sale Kimber had raised objections as coordinator of the Central California Media Coalition but Bartlett said the coalition ceased to exist on Nov 11 1981 He produced a statement signed by Donna Kennedy identified as former president of the CCMC saying that the group "has not existed for the past four years in the capacity expressed in its bylaws and will not exist in the future" Bartlett said of Kimber "It's very curious that people say they are coordinators of organizations that don't appear to exist" But Kimber responded that the group has existed since the late 1970s as a "spinoff" from the minority advisory committee for KFSN Channel 30 of which Kimber is co-chairman The CCMC was formed to deal See KSEE Page B2 Minority groups forge program with new buyers result in a final order from the Federal Communications Commission which would give us the go-ahead" said Leo Armatis vice president and spokesman for Meredith in Des Moines Iowa Armatis said the FCC order will likely be issued in about 30 days and the company would acquire the station shortly thereafter On Monday the FCC released its opinion on the sale which it approved March 31 The strongly-worded opinion generally found little basis for objections to the sale raised by the two media coalitions and by the Television Advisory Committee of Mexican Americans "They gave us a well-deserved clean bill of health" said Paul Bartlett chairman and president of small as two acres Supervisor Sharon Levy moved to approve the amendment but to require the parcels to be at least five acres Her motion was supported by Chairman Jeff Reich and Supervisor A Vernon Conrad The Planning Commission and the staff had recommended denial of the amendment in the Sierra North plan that was adopted last May Jeff Tweedie of the planning staff told the board the change would set a precedent for more rural residential would be premature and would push further into agricultural land He said the Sierra North plan designates existing communities such as Auberry See Breach Page B2 A coalition of minority groups has withdrawn its objections to the sale jrf Fresno's KSEE Channel 24 to ()Meredith Corp clearing the way for the Iowa-based media conglomerate 'to take over control of the television station in about a month The National Black Media 'Coalition and its local affiliate the Central California Media Coalition (Withdrew their objections as Meredith announced its agreement to an 11-point minority support program The agreement contained in an amendment to Meredith's application to take over KSEE said the company will seek minority employees provide $7000 annually in minority scholarships provide minority access and minority programming seek to trade with minority businesses and will reimburse NBMC's expenses in opposing the sale "It's our hope that this action will The first breach of the 11-month-old Sierra North Regional Plan was approved Tuesday on a 3-1 vote of the Fresno County Supervisors The supervisors adopted a plan amendment that will chop 204 acres into five-acre parcels at the northwest corner of Lodge Road and Highway 168 about V2 miles from Auberry Only Supervisor Deran Koligian opposed the change on the rangeland owned by WW Van Vleet and Thomas Craven The applicants requested changing the land use from eastside rangeland with 40-acre minimum parcels to rural residential with parcels as Eli Setencich Can't win 'em all NOW IF they can only get a chicken that can do sft furlongs Ms Holly Near will be sure to come home a winner some day soon Although she is yet to run a race Holly Near is already celebrated as the only feminist horse around and is due soon for national exposure in the magazine "Women'Sports" Billed as the filly that will race for equality once she begins running and winning 20 percent of her earnings will go to the National Organization for Women And if there had been any doubts about her ability now Holly Near has shown she can show her heels "Like the wind" gushes owner Marianna Haun who with her own eyes the other day watched her gallop across a field like a Sea Biscuit after being spooked by a chicken the Philadelphia Eagles The sports information director at USF the Scott Johnson of the time and place was a guy named Pete Rozelle who also went rather big time After that initial success in the Big Apple reminds Terrence Curley with understandable optimism the San Francisco basketball program soared onward and upward to two NCAA titles and a run of 60 straight victories Unfortunately the school also gave up basketball But let us not dwell on that sort of meaningless trivia all right Terry? Postscript on a homecoming: If memory serves Howard Watkins back in 1977 when the Bulldog football team returned to Death Valley North after winning the Pacific Coast Athletic Association title the crowd that flocked to the airport to welcome the conquering heroes home was just big enough to field a team so long as they played both ways "There were all of 11 of us there" recalls Watkins It was 1 o'clock in the morning as if that's any kind of excuse ONLY THE most contemptible cynic would stoop to suggest that perhaps the free-spending performance of the Red Wave in New York might have contributed to it but the incontestable fact of the matter is that Schaefer Beer since 1842 one of the more popular brew in the Big Apple and other points on the East Coast is suddenly being introduced to Fresno the Munich of the est sort of town where supermarkets keep chocolate chip cookies in the gourmet section What's more he continues "I know he's the one who when asked how Fresno coach Boyd Grant gets good players to come to Death Valley North replied: 'He makes them think they're coming to California'" AND THE next thing you know we'll have a couple of bridges and a fleet of cable cars climbing half way to the stars not to mention Jim Sweeney winding up as coach at Notre Dame and then the Philadelphia Eagles and Scott Johnson becoming commissioner of the National Football League This is the scenerio conjured up by Fresno State-University of San Francisco fanatic Terrence Curley who detects any number of similarities between the Bulldogs of New York two weeks ago and the USF of New York in 1949 when the Dons won the NIT "What I would suggest is that success begets success" says Curley who points out that the championship USF team of 34 years ago was very much like the Bulldogs with no superstars and in Pete Newell a coach who preached and practiced control-type basketball Like Fresno the 1949 USF basketball team developed its championship season in the shadow of a highly successful football program that included stars like Ollie Matson Gino Marchetti and Bob St Clair and a coach Joe Kuharich who went on to Notre Dame and NO RESPECT no respect at all: After six pages in living color on the NCAA basketball championship i game followed by another two on the women's title game you have to thumb all the way back to Page 91 in this week's edition of Sports Illustrated to find out that Fresno State beat DePaul for the National Invitation Tournament crown The whole story is there In two lines In small print M- I THIS a big bunch sour grapes or what? I mean the I sportswriter the other day down in Southern California home of at least a couple of basketball teams that did not make it to the NIT this year "You have to hand it to the city of Fresno" writes Ruffalo "and not just for its Bulldogs winning the NIT and thus establishing themselves as the 53rd best basketball team in the nation" jj He then goes on to talk about the UC Irvine coach being hired to do the color commentary on the telecast of the championship game noting that the fellow is the same social critic who once described Fresno as the WHEN you stop to think about it though it definitely was a clean sweep In San Jose over the weekend the FSU baseball team defeated the Spartans three times one of the wins being a six-hit 80 whitewash delivered by a pitcher named John Hoover The following day the San Francisco Chronicle wrapped up the game in a line score But instead of Hoover they identified the winning pitcher as somebody by the name of "Vacuum".